Shamrock Reins equine therapy helps vets, first responders, families get back in the saddle

By Chris Ruvo, Correspondent

Friday

Dec 30, 2016 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2016 at 5:30 AM

Like other veterans who come to Shamrock Reins for equine therapy, the soldier was having trouble adjusting to civilian life.

He had spent a year embedded in a combat zone. While his battles overseas ended when he returned stateside, the war in his mind was just beginning.

“You can’t come back and say everything is fine,” the U.S. Army veteran said. “There is a lot to undo from what we saw and what we did.”

Shamrock Reins is playing a central role in helping him unravel the mental and emotional tangles.

“Just coming here and being with the horses who I know are here for me is what I needed,” the soldier said. “There are 22 veteran suicides a day. Shamrock Reins helping me will make one less.”

Situated on an idyllic, meticulously maintained ranch in rural Tinicum, Shamrock Reins is a nonprofit equine therapy center that works with veterans, active duty and reserve service members, and first responders, as well as their families.

Since being founded in 2014, Shamrock Reins has served about 150 people, most of them veterans.

Ranging in age from 20 to 77, more than three-quarters of the vets suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Hailing from Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, Philadelphia and Lehigh counties, 90 percent of the vets experience multiple physical disabilities or challenges.

“These men and women and their families have made significant sacrifices, and I feel strongly that it is our responsibility to give back and serve them,” said Janet L. Brennan, founder of Shamrock Reins and a member of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International.

For no charge, Brennan provides all services, including equine therapy and home-cooked meals after sessions.

A former executive in the pharmaceutical biotechnology outsourcing industry, Brennan has the cause of helping veterans and other service members close to her heart. She is the daughter of a Vietnam veteran and retired Philadelphia firefighter, as well as the niece of retired police officers.

“I have a deep respect and appreciation for our service members,” said Brennan. “Through my business travels all over the world, I recognized that more often than not Americans do not realize how lucky we are, and that our freedom is preserved by our service members who have been protecting us.”

A horse enthusiast since the late 1990s, Brennan said that equine therapy provides cognitive, emotional, physical and social benefits.

“Horses have amazing healing powers,” she said, adding that equine therapy helps people develop coping skills that are vital in everyday life.

To illustrate her point, Brennan pointed to examples of healing that have occurred at Shamrock Reins.

Some veterans have started the program not speaking, but after two sessions, they began engaging in conversations.

Psychologists and psychiatrists at the Veterans Administration Medical Center have told Brennan that veterans attending Shamrock Reins are completely different people a year after beginning equine therapy; the only thing the medical pros can attribute the improvement to is the vets’ interaction with the horses.

Therapists have also related to Brennan that their veteran patients experience fewer nightmares and flashbacks. Then, of course, there are the testimonies of vets.

“After completing five years in the U.S. Army, spending 22 months in Afghanistan, I found my safe haven at Shamrock Reins,” said one soldier. “Equine therapy helps me come back to reality."

For Brennan, seeing the positive results — miracles, you might call them — that Shamrock Reins helps engender keeps her committed to the cause.

“Just saying ‘Thank you for your service’ never seems enough to me,” she said. “It is my time to give back.”

If you would like to vote for Shamrock Reins, visit www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/good-doers.

Chris Ruvo is a freelance writer. He can be reached through editor Harry Yanoshak at 215-345-3051 or hyanoshak@calkins.com.

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